Numbers and Keys
by Crysalice Bell
Summary: A blizzard strikes on the way to a Seigaku regulars Christmas bonding in the Snow Mountains. They stay in a hotel for the night. Fuji, the silent matchmaker, is unsatisfied with the roommates and switches the numbers and keys to make romance bloom.
1. Start of the Mixup

Hi, this is Crys again

Hi, this is Crys again!

And as usual, my habit of multi-tasking got to me again! Sigh…

Here is another multi-chaptered fic from me. This is actually an idea by violetglow (Vio-chan) in the PoT stands for Pointless but Original Talking forum in the 4-Truple Game thread. I hope you enjoy it! It won't be very long though… It'll probably take at least 5 chapters, in my estimation.

SUMMARY: On their way to a Christmas bonding in the Snow Mountains, a blizzard occurs forcing the Seigaku Regulars to stay in a hotel. Fuji, the silent discreet matchmaker, is unsatisfied with the roommates and switches the numbers and keys to make romance bloom.

Pairings: Pillar Pair, Golden Pair, InuKai

IMPORTANT NOTE: EDITED. Since this is rushed, I made one too many mistakes. Thanks to vio-chan for correcting me.

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**Bold- **English

_Italics-_ Flashback

'Dialogue'- Thoughts

"Dialogue"- Spoken Dialogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

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**Numbers and Keys**

**CHAPTER 1: Start of the Mix-Up**

"Nya! Ochibi! We're going to the Snow Mountains for our Christmas bonding! Isn't it great!?"

"Kikumaru-senpai, get off me!"

"What did you say, Mamushi!?"

"Do you want to fight!?"

The Seigaku regulars, dressed in casual clothes, were inside a bus. They were on their way to the Snow Mountains for their Christmas bonding. It was just them and it was a nice change from tennis matches. The seats were in pairs; Tezuka, who was staring out the window and Fuji, smiling and taking photos of everyone, were seated at the front left side.

Beside them were Oishi, who was getting worried about the pair squabbling behind him, who happened to be Momo and Kaidoh, and Kawamura.

Behind Tezuka and Fuji sat Echizen, who was currently being glomped by his ever-active senpai Kikumaru. After a bit of struggling, Echizen broke free of the acrobatic player who pouted. Inui sat alone behind them, scribbling notes.

Tezuka knew that his team was being overly noisy because all the other passengers were staring at them. He really wanted to assign them laps but decided against it. It was Christmas after all...

He continued his staring at the window. It was snowing quite hard now.

"Ochibi! You're so mean!"

"It's your fault, Kikumaru-senpai… Stop hugging me!"

Kikumaru had lunged once more to hug Echizen, who noticed him and dodged.

"Mamushi, you want to fight!?"

"Bring it on, baka peach!"

"What did you say!?"

"Fssshuuu…"

"You… You guys, calm down… The other passengers are staring…"

Oishi was trying to pacify the two juniors, to no avail.

Fuji smiled as he looked at the way Tezuka was looking out the window absent-mindedly. 'So he's thinking about that, eh?'

He directed his gaze to Oishi this time and chuckled lightly as to how he was trying to calm Momo and Kaidoh but is actually looking more worried over someone else.

He then looked over at Inui who was taking notes. 'What was there to take notes of at a time like this?' Fuji mused. 'It can only be _that_…'

Sighing, he thought to himself, 'These people really need a push…'

"BEEP! This is an important passenger announcement. A blizzard has struck the Snow Mountains and is inaccessible. To all passengers on the way to Snow Mountains, you have to make a stop over at the Ice Glaze Hotel located at the foot of the mountain. Thank you very much."

"EHHHHH!?" Kikumaru's shock was nothing compared to his teammate's shock… except the stoic buchou and the smiling tensai because their expression did not change at all.

Inui closed his notebook. "What a pity… Looks like our trip is delayed."

"You're right…" Kawamura trailed off.

"But since we would be stopping over at a hotel instead, then let's just stay there for the night. If it's a blizzard, it won't stop till tomorrow morning," Fuji encouraged.

"Good point, Fuji. What do you think, Tezuka?" Oishi asked.

"…"

"T-tezuka?"

"…"

"Tezuka!"

"Huh?" Tezuka was snapped out of his stupor by Fuji tapping him on the shoulder.

Oishi being the motherhen he was quickly asked, "Tezuka, are you all right? You've been in a daze lately…"

"No, it's nothing."

"So, what do you think, should we stay in the Ice Glaze Hotel for the night?"

"Huh?"

"Weren't you listening to the announcement? There is a blizzard at the Snow Mountains so we can't go there and we're making a stop over at the Ice Glaze Hotel. So are we staying there for the night?"

"Ah… I guess we should. We don't have a choice."

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Pretty soon, they reached their stop over, the Ice Glaze Hotel.

Gathering their baggage, they all entered the hotel, Tezuka in the lead. He approached the front desk. "We're going to stay in for the night."

"Ah. I see," the female receptionist smiled. "Well, how many are you?"

"Nine," Tezuka responded politely.

"Well, we're going to have a bit of problem with that, I'm afraid," she frowned as she stood up and strode over to a cabinet.

"Why?" Tezuka asked, confused.

"Because all our rooms can only have two occupants at the same time, that is. Will one of you be okay with staying alone?"

Tezuka turned to his teammates who nodded. "No, it will be fine."

"Alright then," she walked back to the counter. "Here." She set out five keys. "Enjoy your stay."

Tezuka took the keys. He looked at the room numbers attached to the keys, namely 204, 205, 206, 207 and 208. They were all on the second floor.

Carrying their bags, they went up the stairs. However, they settled down in the lounge to decide who would be sharing a room with whom.

"Alright… Now, the pairings are as follows. Room 204, Me and Fuji. Room 205, Oishi and Kawamura. Room 206, Momoshiro and Kaidoh. Room 207, Kikumaru and Echizen. Room 208, Inui."

Fuji frowned as he thought, 'Not good…'

Momo and Kaidoh seemed to involuntarily agree with his thoughts because they shouted at the same time, "Why am I in the same room with that guy!?"

Echizen tilted his cap down. "Che… Kikumaru-senpai will hug me to death…"

"Ochibi!! Why are you always so mean to me?"

Oishi frowned. "Looks like many are unsatisfied with the pairings Tezuka."

The stoic captain frowned.

Momo thought hard. "Ne, why can't we just go with whoever we want?"

"Draw strings?" Oishi suggested.

Inui adjusted his glasses. "That could work out fine."

Fuji, his eyes open, smiled. 'This is a good opportunity…' "Ne, everyone. Would you mind if I made them?"

"Of course not, Fujiko!" Kikumaru grinned.

Echizen being Echizen just tilted his cap down.

Kaidoh let out a faint hiss.

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A few minutes later…

"Ne, everyone, here."

They all gathered around Fuji who took a good look at them all and started spreading the strings. The Regulars each took hold of a string. Fuji smiled and said, "On the count of three. One, two…"

"THREE!" They all shouted.

Everyone took a good look at the color of the strings they got before looking at the others.

It was Kikumaru who reacted first. "EEEEEH?! I'm with Oishi!?"

Oishi blushed but he tried to hide it.

"Fssshuu…" Kaidoh gazed at Inui's string, which had the same color as his.

Echizen blinked.

Tezuka blinked.

The two stared at each other's string at the same time before looking at one another's face wordlessly.

Fuji smiled as Momo talked with Kawamura. 'Now this is better…'

"Well, everyone I think that's settled now. Any complaints?"

The dangerous smile on Fuji's face prevented anyone from saying anything.

"Good. Now, it seems like it's getting kind of late, ne? I think we should all go to our rooms."

Everyone trudged towards their rooms, the stages of Fuji's matchmaking.

To be continued…

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**Waaah! It's done! What do you think of it so far?**

**Since there are three pairings in here… I will be making one chapter for the development of each pairing. So which pairing's action do you want to see first? Is it…**

**Pillar Pair**

**Golden Pair**

**InuKai**

**Please remember to vote because I won't be able to proceed. Voting ends on April 20.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing the story!**

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**Well, the stage has been set now (thanks to Fuji). You'll see lots in the next chapter!**

**Don't forget to vote!**

**See ya in the next chapter!**

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	2. Pillar Pair

Hi

Hi!

It's Crys here…

**But since school is nearing (again), I fear that this could be the last mass update for a while. No, it doesn't mean that I'll stop updating. It just means that I'll only be able to update 1 or 2 stories per week or maybe even every other week.**

**However, I'll give you readers a choice. Would you rather want…**

**Option A: I'll update every week or every other week but only 1 or 2 stories will be updated. Plus I won't update the same story per week. For example, if I update this story, it won't be updated again till I've updated all my other stories so if you're really a fan of only one of my stories, updates will be quite a while.**

**Option B: I'll type all the updates of all my stories up first then release all of them (most likely once a month or twice a month if I'm lucky) in a mass update. But then that would be a REALLY long wait for the impatient people. However, those who are fans of many stories would get to read them all in one go.**

**So… There are the two options. Please tell me in your review which option you would prefer. It will help me in planning out my typings.**

Well… Here we are in the 2nd chapter… It's probably not too long…

**WARNING: Several spoilers to most Prince of Tennis episodes. If you haven't watched all of them yet, read with caution.**

To tell you the truth, this is just a different point of view of most episodes in PoT. Because when we watch, the focus is always on the characters winning their matches. I wanted to try out a point of view in some specific episodes, when it comes to the characters' real thoughts. Especially in pairing-style.

There's no definite timeline for this story. It has an AU quality.

Due to majority voting, we have Pillar Pair up first. I hope you enjoy it!

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**Bold- **English

_Italics-_ Flashback

'Dialogue'- Thoughts

"Dialogue"- Spoken Dialogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

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**Numbers and Keys**

**CHAPTER 2: Pillar Pair**

Fuji chuckled softly to himself as he entered his room. 'This is going to be fun…'

He opened his bag. Buried underneath his clothes was his camera. However, there were other devices in there.

Such as a transmitter and some devices for eavesdropping.

This made Fuji look like a spy of some sort.

Carrying the items with him discreetly, he went to Room 204, where Tezuka and Echizen were.

He knocked on the door. "Tezuka, it's Fuji. Can I come in?"

The captain's voice rang out. "Sure."

Fuji opened the door slowly. He saw Echizen on the bed near the window on the right, bouncing a ball against the frame of his racket. Trust Echizen to think about tennis even during Christmas vacation.

Tezuka, on the other hand, sat on the other bed, reading a book. It appeared to be a mystery novel.

Closing the door behind him, Fuji entered the room and sat on a chair near Tezuka's bed. As he did so, he stuck the listening device on the side of the chair.

"Ne, Tezuka, seeing you reading a book like that reminds me of a book I read before. It said, 'When you die, what you will regret is not what you did, but rather, what you didn't do'.

Echizen stopped bouncing the tennis ball and looked at the tensai instead.

"What's that supposed to mean, Fuji-senpai?"

"Ah… It's nothing. I must be mistaken."

Tezuka, however, was in deep thought.

Fuji stood up. "I seem to have abused my stay in here. I'm off to bed now. Good night, Tezuka, Echizen."

SLAM!

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Fuji entered his room with a smile on his face after successfully planting the listening devices in all 3 rooms. It was quite difficult in the Golden Pair's room though, because Eiji was hugging him and wouldn't let go. Thankfully, Oishi rescued him.

He slumped on his bed and opened the transmitter connections. 'Now which pair's drama should I listen to first?'

'Heh… I have to start with buchou, of course!'

He chuckled.

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Meanwhile, in Momoshiro and Kawamura's room, which happened to be located right next to Fuji's…

"Eh, Kawamura-senpai… Someone's laughing… Is it Fuji-senpai?"

The dual-personality Seigaku Regular listened intently. "You're right, Momo… But why is Fuji laughing like that?"

"Who knows… But it's kind of creepy though…"

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Inside Room 204, both occupants were silent. The only sounds that can be heard were the constant bouncing of the tennis ball against a certain red racket and the shuffling of the pages of a pocketbook.

Tezuka was reading but his minds were occupied with thoughts of what Fuji said.

'What I didn't do…'

He looked at the freshman prodigy, who had stopped what he was doing a while ago.

The golden-eyed boy put away his racket and lied down on the bed. He pulled the blanket up before muttering, "I'm going to sleep now, Buchou."

"Aa."

Tezuka resumed his thoughts again, while staring at the sleeping freshman. Several things came to his mind.

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_When he first saw the freshman prodigy in the courts, beating a bullying upperclassman, a strange feeling instantly rose in his chest. He couldn't understand what it was, but it was a heart-racing motion._

_With every stroke, every step, every swing… Every movement that Echizen Ryoma made, Tezuka Kunimitsu was entranced._

_He was snapped out of his trance when Oishi stood beside him. Deciding to put his duties as captain first, he told Oishi to make everyone run laps._

_However, he can't forget what that feeling was._

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_Echizen had proved himself worthy of becoming a Regular, after beating Kaidoh Kaoru and Inui Sadaharu._

_Tezuka keenly watched every match, and found himself entranced even more by the freshman, as he defeated his teammates. He evolved in every match, reaching new heights that were beyond his reach before. However, Tezuka felt there was something lacking in the freshman._

_It was in Echizen's Singles debut against Fudomine that Tezuka finally understood what the younger was lacking. He was just a copy of his own father._

'_He needs his own style of tennis… He has to make a name for himself…'_

_When the younger boy was injured in the eye during the match, however, he became genuinely worried. It was quite a serious injury that could impair his eyesight. Oishi managed to patch it up but certainly, continuing the match would be too much, even for someone like him._

_But not only was Echizen an amazing player, he was stubborn also._

"_Momo-senpai, give me the spare racket while you're at it."_

_  
Everyone turned to him incredulously. He's going to continue the match? He must be crazy!_

_But Tezuka smiled secretly to himself. If he were in Echizen's position, he would continue the match too._

_But… No matter how stubborn he is, an injury is still an injury._

_Just as the spiky-haired player was able to hand over the red racket, Tezuka took it from him, giving it personally to Echizen._

"_10 minutes."_

_The golden-eyed freshman stared at him._

"_10 minutes. If you don't win by that time, you'll forfeit. Got it?"_

_Echizen gave him a confident smirk. "It's just 10 minutes." He took the racket from Tezuka._

'_I'll see your potential here, Echizen!'_

_The game played on and by sealing off Ibu Shinji's Spot technique through Nitouryuu, Echizen won the game, with 2 seconds left to spare._

_The Regulars gave their own way of approval. Tezuka nodded. 'I'll see your true form in the courts myself.'_

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_Tezuka stood over the freshman, in the court under the el._

"_Echizen, become Seigaku's Pillar of Support."_

_In his mind, Tezuka thought, 'Echizen, you can become stronger. Develop your own style of tennis...'_

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'_0-30! St. Rudolph's Fuji leads!'_

_Echizen began panting. That Twist Spin shot of Fuji Yuuta was very strong._

_Tezuka looked at the freshman Regular of Seigaku. 'What will you do now, Echizen?'_

_Moments later, everyone stared in awe as Echizen managed to return the Twist Spin shot by sliding up to the net and hitting it. The result of that drive was the ball bouncing towards the ground in a letter B form._

"_Drive B", Echizen smirked._

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"_Echizen. Fuji. Get on the court."_

_The two gave a challenging stare at each other._

_Later, the two were still at it in the rain, that Ryuuzaki-sensei had to stop the two of them before they injured themselves._

_At the clubroom…_

"_Ne, Tezuka, did you feel like this when you played against Echizen?"_

"_You knew?"_

"_Hehe… Somewhat…" _

'_You're so obvious and oblivious Tezuka…'_

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"_This is it. Game and match."_

"_Echizen."_

_The black-green-haired boy, who was kneeling on the court, looked up towards the Seigaku captain._

_Tezuka offered his hand to Echizen with a small smile on his face. "I lost. You are now Seigaku's Pillar of Support."_

"_Do your best in America."_

_Tears trickled down Echizen's face. "Buchou…"_

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Tezuka stared at the boy sleeping peacefully beside him. He was the boy who had achieved a lot, exceeded expectations and rose higher than the rest. He felt proud to have molded him into what he had become.

But what was the reason for his genuine care for the younger boy? Was it really just to make him the Pillar of Support of Seigaku?

Or is it because of this strange feeling in his chest now? His heart thumping and beating abnormally fast…

'Do I… care for Echizen in that way?'

He stared at the freshman Regular of Seigaku, deep asleep. He looked like an angel and Tezuka couldn't help blushing.

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In Room 208…

"It's really hard to see or hear any action from those two… They barely talk at all…" Fuji frowned, sulking that he wasn't able to hear anything from the buchou and the freshman.

Little did he know that his plan worked after all.

To be continued…

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**Well, that turned out mushy…**

**I would like to say that updates for this story won't come in a little while. Since Golden Pair and Emerald Pair are coming up next… I have yet to think over a little of what I'll write about them since this will be my first time and I don't want it to go too badly OOC.**

**So, which one do you want to see next? Golden Pair or Emerald Pair?**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing the story!**

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**--Messages to Reviewers:**

**--kitten**

**-**It was obvious??

**--serenamoonrose**

**-**Okay…

**--Snow Lady**

**-**Okay. I'm glad you found it fun.

**--rebeccasanfujieijilvr**

**-**Okay…

**--Squirrelpelt**

**-**Thank you!!

**--blood red tensai**

-And? XD

**--Setsuna-X**

-That's my policy too (save the best for last) but of course, if majority wants it, I will do it.

**--violetglow**

- (glomps) Thank you for reading! And oh, it's almost like you beta-read my story XD I edited it.

**--finding**

**-**I'm bad at crack XD. See my humor stories. There's nothing humorous about them XD. But I try.

**--IDaddicted**

**-**Yup! Fuji is…

**--FlAmEsOfDeSiReS**

**-**Wow, you do love a lot of pairings XD

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**So… Vote for the next pairing… Golden or Emerald?**

**See ya in the next chapter!**

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